Obtaining summary content from server

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for synchronizing messages. The systems and methods include operations for: accessing, by a server, a plurality of messages of a communication session implemented by a messaging application on a user device; generating, by the server, a summary of the communication session based on the plurality of messages; transmitting, by the server, data associated with the summary to the user device; and causing the user device to display of a summary view of the communication session based on the data received by the user device from the server.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/797,559, filed Feb. 21, 2020, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the technical field ofsocial networks. In particular, the present embodiments are generallydirected to managing message synchronization.

BACKGROUND

As the popularity of social networking grows, social networks areexpanding their capabilities. To improve ease of use, social networksare integrating more and more functions such that a user may accomplishmany or even most of their computer-based tasks within the socialnetwork itself. One vision of social networks is that they eventuallybecome a virtual operating system, from which a user seldom finds a needto remove themselves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsmay describe similar components in different views. To easily identifythe discussion of any particular element or act, the most significantdigit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number inwhich that element is first introduced. Some embodiments are illustratedby way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network,according to example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating data which may be stored inthe database of a messaging server system, according to exampleembodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a messagegenerated by a messaging client application for communication, accordingto example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example message synchronizationsystem, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the messagesynchronization system, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a representative softwarearchitecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine able toread instructions from a machine-readable medium (e.g., amachine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments. It will be evident, however, to those skilled in the art,that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

Often, users consume media content, and specifically videos, on a userdevice, such as a mobile device. Such media content is typicallyexchanged in chat sessions between users. Sometimes users log on and logoff a server that maintains the contents of the chat sessions. In orderto ensure that the latest chat messages, that were exchanged in the chatsession while the user device has been disconnected from the server, arepresented to the user, a user device synchronizes with the server.Typically, the server will send the content of all the messages thatwere exchanged while the user device was disconnected from the server.Some of these messages are rich in large-sized content, such as videosand images. Synchronizing such content between a server and a userdevice consumes a great deal of processing resources, battery, andnetwork bandwidth which makes synchronization sessions operateinefficiently. Also, synchronizing such content can take a long timewhich further delays presenting the latest chat messages to the user andcan end up frustrating the users.

In some cases, a user device, after receiving all the content from theserver during a synchronization session, processes the content togenerate a summary view of the content. Generating such a summary viewis very time consuming and consumes a great deal of resources. This notonly introduces delays in presenting content to the user, but ends uprequiring messages to be obtained from the server that may not end upeven being presented to the user. In this way, a tremendous amount ofbandwidth is wasted along with battery power of the user device.

The disclosed embodiments improve the efficiency of using the userdevice by providing a system that efficiently synchronizes contentbetween a server and a user device. According to the disclosed system,the server processes the content of all of the messages from multipleconversations in which the client device is involved. The server appliesa complex model that specifies various rules and heuristics foridentifying important messages in the conversations. The server thengenerates a summary that includes only those important messages. Whenthe user device ultimately requests to synchronize its content with theserver, the server provides data representing the summary to the userdevice. The user device can then generate a summary view of theconversations in which the user device is involved based on the summaryreceived from the server. Because the user device need not receive allof the messages to generate the summary view and need not locally applycomplex heuristics and rules, the summary view can be quickly presentedto a user almost instantaneously without consuming a great deal ofbandwidth and processing resources. A user can then hand pick certainconversations of interest based on the summary view that is presentedand messages associated with the selected conversation are thenretrieved from the server. In some cases, the user device automaticallyretrieves or pre-fetches the messages from the conversations that areincluded in the summary view to avoid further delays when the userultimately selects to view a given conversation. Only messages that arepart of conversations that are not represented in the summary view areexcluded from being downloaded from the server until a specific userrequest is received to view such conversations.

In this way, rather than sending the entire contents of the messagesexchanged as part of a communication session after a user devicereconnects to a server, the disclosed system only sends those messagesthat are predicted to be of interest to the user and that the serverdetermines are to be included in a summary view. This increases theefficiencies of the user device by reducing processing times and networkbandwidth needed to accomplish a task.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system 100 forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network106. The messaging system 100 includes multiple client devices 102(e.g., user devices), each of which hosts a number of applications,including a messaging client application 104 and a third-partyapplication 105. Each messaging client application 104 iscommunicatively coupled to other instances of the messaging clientapplication 104, the third-party application 105, and a messaging serversystem 108 via a network 106 (e.g., the Internet).

Accordingly, each messaging client application 104 and third-partyapplication 105 is able to communicate and exchange data with anothermessaging client application 104 and third-party application(s) 105 andwith the messaging server system 108 via the network 106. The dataexchanged between messaging client applications 104, third-partyapplications 105, and the messaging server system 108 includes functions(e.g., commands to invoke functions) and payload data (e.g., text,audio, video, or other multimedia data). Any disclosed communicationsbetween the messaging client application 104 and the third-partyapplication(s) 105 can be transmitted directly from the messaging clientapplication 104 to the third-party application(s) 105 and/or indirectly(e.g., via one or more servers) from the messaging client application104 to the third-party application(s) 105.

The third-party application(s) 105 and the messaging client application104 are applications that include a set of functions that allow theclient device 102 to access a message synchronization system 124. Thethird-party application 105 is an application that is separate anddistinct from the messaging client application 104. The third-partyapplication(s) 105 are downloaded and installed by the client device 102separately from the messaging client application 104. In someimplementations, the third-party application(s) 105 are downloaded andinstalled by the client device 102 before or after the messaging clientapplication 104 is downloaded and installed. The third-party application105 is an application that is provided by an entity or organization thatis different from the entity or organization that provides the messagingclient application 104.

The third-party application 105 is an application that can be accessedby a client device 102 using separate login credentials than themessaging client application 104. Namely, the third-party application105 can maintain a first user account and the messaging clientapplication 104 can maintain a second user account. For example, thethird-party application 105 can be a social networking application, adating application, a ride or car sharing application, a shoppingapplication, a trading application, a gaming application, or an imagingapplication.

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, it will be appreciated that the location ofcertain functionality either within the messaging client application 104or the messaging server system 108 is a design choice. For example, itmay be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology andfunctionality within the messaging server system 108, but to latermigrate this technology and functionality to the messaging clientapplication 104 where a client device 102 has a sufficient processingcapacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Thisdata may include message content, client device information, geolocationinformation, media annotation and overlays, virtual objects, messagecontent persistence conditions, social network information, and liveevent information, as examples. Data exchanges within the messagingsystem 100 are invoked and controlled through functions available viauser interfaces (UIs) of the messaging client application 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, an APIserver 110 is coupled to, and provides a programmatic interface to, anapplication server 112. The application server 112 is communicativelycoupled to a database server 118, which facilitates access to a database120 in which is stored data associated with messages processed by theapplication server 112.

Dealing specifically with the API server 110, this server 110 receivesand transmits message data (e.g., commands and message payloads) betweenthe client device 102 and the application server 112. Specifically, theAPI server 110 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines andprotocols) that can be called or queried by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the third-party application 105 in order to invokefunctionality of the application server 112. The API server 110 exposesvarious functions supported by the application server 112, includingaccount registration; login functionality; the sending of messages, viathe application server 112, from a particular messaging clientapplication 104 to another messaging client application 104 orthird-party application 105; the sending of media files (e.g., images orvideo) from a messaging client application 104 to the messaging serverapplication 114, and for possible access by another messaging clientapplication 104 or third-party application 105; the setting of acollection of media data (e.g., story); the retrieval of suchcollections; the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of a clientdevice 102; the retrieval of messages and content; the adding anddeleting of friends to a social graph; the location of friends within asocial graph; access to user conversation data; access to avatarinformation stored on messaging server system 108; and opening anapplication event (e.g., relating to the messaging client application104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116, a social network system 122, and the messagesynchronization system 124. The messaging server application 114implements a number of message processing technologies and functions,particularly related to the aggregation and other processing of content(e.g., textual and multimedia content) included in messages receivedfrom multiple instances of the messaging client application 104. As willbe described in further detail, the text and media content from multiplesources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., calledstories or galleries). These collections are then made available, by themessaging server application 114, to the messaging client application104. Other processor- and memory-intensive processing of data may alsobe performed server-side by the messaging server application 114, inview of the hardware requirements for such processing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video received within the payload ofa message at the messaging server application 114. A portion of theimage processing system 116 may also be implemented by the messagesynchronization system 124.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions and services and makes these functions and services availableto the messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph within the database120. Examples of functions and services supported by the social networksystem 122 include the identification of other users of the messagingsystem 100 with which a particular user has relationships or is“following” and also the identification of other entities and interestsof a particular user. Such other users may be referred to as the user'sfriends. Social network system 122 may access location informationassociated with each of the user's friends to determine where they liveor are currently located geographically. Social network system 122 maymaintain a location profile for each of the user's friends indicatingthe geographical location where the user's friends live.

The message synchronization system 124 manages synchronization ofmessages exchanged in a communication session. For example, the messagesynchronization system 124 establishes a communication session between aplurality of users (e.g., a chat session in which multiple chat messagesare exchanged). The messaging client application 104 implemented on theclient device 102 communicates with the message synchronization system124 to receive messages transmitted as part of the communicationsession. Specifically, messages are sent from one user to another viathe message synchronization system 124. The message synchronizationsystem 124 keeps track of all the messages that are exchanged and sendsupdates to client devices 102 that are connected to the messagesynchronization system 124.

In some cases, the message synchronization system 124 stores andprocesses all of the messages that are exchanged as part of multipleconversations in which a given client device 102 (e.g., via messagingclient application 104) is involved. The message synchronization system124 applies various heuristics, rules and/or machine learning models tothe messages to identify a message from each conversation or a subset ofthe conversations that is most important in that conversation. Theidentified messages are selected by the message synchronization system124 to be included in a summary. In on example, the summary is anat-a-glance snapshot of the current state of each of a plurality ofconversations in which a given client device 102 is involved. Thesummary may include the entire contents, or a segment of the lastmessage exchanged in each of the plurality of conversations and/or anidentification of a video or image that was exchanged in a given one ofthe conversations. In an example, the summary view that is generated bythe client device 102 is based on the summary data obtained from theserver. The summary view includes a simultaneously display of aplurality of cells arranged in one or more columns. Each cell in theplurality of cells represents a particular conversation in which a userof the client device 102 participates. Each cell identifies theconversation by name, participants, subject matter, or other suitableinformation and may include identifiers (e.g., avatars) of theparticipants involved in the conversation for the cell. A user canselect a given cell to view the contents (e.g., all the messages,images, and videos) exchanged between users of the conversation. Eachcell also includes a summary field which includes one or moreidentifiers of messages and/or contents of selected messages from theconversation. Such identifiers of messages and/or contents correspond tomessages that were exchanged in the conversation after a last time theclient device 102 synchronized its data with the server (e.g., after thelast time all of the content from the server for the conversations wascompletely received from the server). The summary field may include thelast message exchanged in the conversation and/or a message exchanged inthe conversation that is determined and indicated by the server to theclient device 102 as being most important to the user of the clientdevice 102. Such messages may be received concurrently with orimmediately after the summary data from the server that is used topopulate the summary field of each cell. In some cases, the cellsthemselves are sorted and arranged based on importance information thatis received by the client device 102 from the server. In this way,messages and/or conversations are downloaded and received from theserver in priority order based on importance as indicated by the summarydata received from the server that is generated based on one or morerules in the model by the server.

In one example embodiment, the summary identifies a given message of agiven conversation by sequence number. Specifically, the messagesynchronization system 124 may identify a first message in a firstconversation as being most important in the first conversation. Thefirst message may be the last message exchanged in the firstconversation or the first message that was exchanged in the conversationafter the given client device 102 last connected or synchronized withthe server (e.g., the message may be a message in the conversation witha timestamp that is later than the timestamp of the last time the clientdevice 102 synchronized with the server but earlier than timestamps ofother messages exchanged in the conversation). The messagesynchronization system 124 retrieves a sequence number or uniqueidentifier of the first message and the first conversation and includesthat sequence number or identifier in a summary. The messagesynchronization system 124 may also identify a second message in asecond conversation as being most important to the second conversation.The message synchronization system 124 retrieves a sequence number orunique identifier of the second message and the second conversation andincludes that sequence number or identifier in the summary.

At a later time, the message synchronization system 124 may receive arequest from the given client device 102 to synchronize content of thegiven client device 102. In response, the message synchronization system124 provides the data included in the summary (e.g., the sequencenumbers and/or identifiers of the messages in the summary) to the givenclient device 102. In some cases, the message synchronization system 124provides the contents of each message that is identified in the summaryto the given client device 102.

The given client device 102 then immediately presents a summary viewthat includes the summary data received from the server. For example,the given client device 102 presents simultaneously a set ofconversation identifiers of all or some of the conversations in whichthe given client device 102 is involved. For each conversation that issimultaneously presented in the summary view, the given client device102 presents the message provided in the summary for that conversation.For example, a first conversation identifier includes the content of thelast message exchanged in that first conversation while a secondconversation identifier (in the same summary view simultaneously withthe first conversation identifier) includes the content of a messageexchanged in the second conversation that includes video or imagecontent but not text and that is not the last message exchanged in thesecond conversation. The given client device 102 may receive input fromthe user that selects a given conversation identifier from the summaryview. In response, the given client device 102 retrieves, from theserver, messages that are part of the selected conversation identifierand that have not previously been retrieved from the server.

In some cases, the given client device 102 automatically obtains,together with the summary data from the server, the messages that arepart of conversations that are identified in the summary data. Forexample, the message synchronization system 124 may include data for afirst conversation in the summary that is provided to the client devicebecause the message synchronization system 124 determines that the firstconversation includes one or more important messages. The messagesynchronization system 124 may not include in the summary data messageinformation for a third conversation because the message synchronizationsystem 124 determines that the third conversation does not include anyimportant messages. In this case, the message synchronization system 124provides to the client device 102, the summary data and the messagesthat are part of the first conversation but does not provide themessages that are part of the third conversation. In response to theclient device 102 receiving a request to access the third conversation,the client device 102 specifically requests that the messagesynchronization system 124 provide the contents of the thirdconversation.

To identify which messages in conversations are important, the messagesynchronization system 124 employs a model. The model may include a setof rules that specify parameters for selecting or identifying messagesfor inclusion in a summary. For example, a first rule or parameter mayindicate that a conversation that includes a set of messages thatinclude images or videos have a higher priority as being more importantthan messages that only include text. This is because the images orvideos may form part of a story and need to be viewed in sequence. Insuch cases, the first rule specifies that the first image or video thatwas exchanged in the given conversation after the last time the givenclient device 102 synchronized its content with the server be identifiedas more important than other messages in the conversation that wereexchanged after the last time the given client device 102 synchronizedwith the server. Namely, rather than selecting the last messageexchanged in the conversation as being the most important and forinclusion in the summary, the message synchronization system 124 selectsthe first message in a sequence of messages that were exchanged afterthe given client device 102 last synchronized with the server and thatincludes images or videos. The message synchronization system 124 mayidentify several message that each include images or videos and mayselect the first of the several messages (e.g., the message with theearliest timestamp) as being the most important and for inclusion in thesummary.

In some cases, a second rule or parameter indicates that messages thatinclude video and audio are more important than messages that includevideo and no audio. In such cases, the second rule specifies that thefirst image or video with audio that was exchanged in the givenconversation after the last time the given client device 102synchronized its content with the server be identified as more importantthan a second image or video without audio in the conversation that wasexchanged after the last time the given client device 102 synchronizedwith the server. Namely, rather than selecting the last messageexchanged in the conversation as being the most important and forinclusion in the summary, the message synchronization system 124 selectsthe first message in a sequence of messages that were exchanged afterthe given client device 102 last synchronized with the server and thatincludes images or videos with audio over messages that include imagesand videos without audio.

In some cases, a third rule or parameter indicates that messagesreceived in a conversation from a particular user (e.g., a previouslydesignated friend or an automatically identified individual, such as acelebrity or a person who is closely related to a user of the givenclient device 102) be deemed more important than other messagesexchanged in the conversation from other users. Such messages may beselected by the message synchronization system 124 to be included in thesummary over other messages that were exchanged more recently than suchmessages by other users.

In some cases, the message synchronization system 124 develops a machinelearning model (e.g., trains a neural network) to identify patterns ofuser behavior that indicate a likelihood that a user is interested in aconversation and/or that indicate a likelihood that one message in aconversation is more important than another message. In somecircumstances, the message synchronization system 124 generates andtrains a machine learning model on a per user basis. The messagesynchronization system 124 applies the trained machine learning model tothe set of messages that are received in one or more conversations toidentify a conversation and/or messages that have a likelihood that theuser is interested in accessing that exceeds a threshold. The trainedmachine learning model can generate a score that predicts a likelihoodon a per conversation basis and/or per message basis.

The message synchronization system 124 selects the conversations and/ormessages with likelihood scores that exceed a certain threshold (or thathave the highest values). The message synchronization system 124 thenadds the selected conversations and/or messages to the summary. In thisway, when the client device 102 later synchronizes content with themessage synchronization system 124 (e.g., the server), the messagesynchronization system 124 sends the summary that includes the mostimportant conversations and/or messages. The client device 102automatically downloads or retrieves the messages that are part of theconversations that are identified in the summary first before othermessages or conversations that have a lower likelihood of interest tothe user. The other messages may be retrieved at a later time (e.g.,when specifically requested by the user) and/or when bandwidth becomesavailable or when a battery level exceeds a certain level.

As an example, the message synchronization system 124 trains the machinelearning model by processing a collection of past conversations in whicha user was involved. The message synchronization system 124 determinesthat the past user engagement patterns (engagement levels) indicate thata first type of user interaction with a first of the set of pastconversations is indicative of a low likelihood of engagement (lowengagement level). The first type of user interaction can include atleast one of muting or preventing notifications about new messagesexchanged in the first of the set of past conversations or accessing thefirst of the set of past conversations less than a given number of timesover a given period. In some cases, the message synchronization system124 determines that the past user engagement patterns indicate that asecond type of user interaction with a second of the set of pastconversations is indicative of a high likelihood of engagement. Thesecond type of user interaction can include receiving more than athreshold number of messages from the user in the second of the set ofpast conversations within a given time interval.

As an example, if the user mutes a given past conversation indicatingthat no notifications should be provided to the user when new messagesare received, the message synchronization system 124 may determine thatsuch a conversation has a low likelihood of engagement. In this way, ifa user mutes a given conversation that the user is involved in at alater time, the message synchronization system 124, based on the trainedmachine learning model, determines that such a conversation has a lowlikelihood of interest to the user (e.g., the user engagement level isbelow a specified threshold) and the message synchronization system 124does not include such a conversation or messages in that conversation inthe summary. Alternatively, the message synchronization system 124defaults to including only the last sent or most recently sent messagein that conversation in the summary.

As another example, if the user accesses given past conversation lessthan a predefined period of time (e.g., once per week), the messagesynchronization system 124 may determine that such a conversation has alow likelihood of engagement. In this way, if a user accesses a new orcurrent conversation that the user is involved in at a later time lessthan once per week, the message synchronization system 124, based on thetrained machine learning model, determines that such a conversation hasa low likelihood of interest to the user and the message synchronizationsystem 124 does not include such a conversation or messages in thatconversation in the summary. Alternatively, the message synchronizationsystem 124 defaults to including only the last sent or most recentlysent message in that conversation in the summary.

As another example, if the user sends more than a predetermined numberof messages (e.g., five messages) in a predefined period of time (e.g.,the span of one hour) in a given past conversation indicating that theuser engagement level in the conversation exceeds a specified threshold,the message synchronization system 124 may determine that such aconversation has a high likelihood of engagement. In this way, if a usersends more than five messages in the span of an hour or less in a new orcurrent conversation that the user is involved in at a later time, themessage synchronization system 124, based on the trained machinelearning model, determines that such a conversation has a highlikelihood of interest to the user (e.g., because the engagement levelof the user exceeds the specified threshold) and the messagesynchronization system 124 includes such a conversation or messages inthat conversation in the summary.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114. Database 120 may be a third-party database. Forexample, the application server 112 may be associated with a firstentity, and the database 120 or a portion of the database 120 may beassociated with and hosted by a second, different entity. In someimplementations, database 120 stores user data that the first entitycollects about various each of the users of a service provided by thefirst entity. For example, the user data includes user names, passwords,addresses, friends, activity information, preferences, videos or contentconsumed by the user, and so forth.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram 200 illustrating data, which may be storedin the database 120 of the messaging server system 108, according tocertain example embodiments. While the content of the database 120 isshown to comprise a number of tables, it will be appreciated that thedata could be stored in other types of data structures (e.g., as anobject-oriented database).

The database 120 includes message data stored within a message table214. An entity table 202 stores entity data, including an entity graph204. Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table202 may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects,places, events, and so forth. Regardless of type, any entity regardingwhich the messaging server system 108 stores data may be a recognizedentity. Each entity is provided with a unique identifier, as well as anentity type identifier (not shown).

The entity graph 204 stores information regarding relationships andassociations between entities. Such relationships may be social,professional (e.g., work at a common corporation or organization),interest-based, or activity-based, merely for example.

Message table 214 may store a collection of conversations between a userand one or more friends or entities. Message table 214 may includevarious attributes of each conversation, such as the list ofparticipants, the size of the conversation (e.g., number of users and/ornumber of messages), the chat color of the conversation, a uniqueidentifier for the conversation, and any other conversation relatedfeature(s).

The database 120 also stores annotation data, in the example form offilters, in an annotation table 212. Database 120 also stores annotatedcontent received in the annotation table 212. Filters for which data isstored within the annotation table 212 are associated with and appliedto videos (for which data is stored in a video table 210) and/or images(for which data is stored in an image table 208). Filters, in oneexample, are overlays that are displayed as overlaid on an image orvideo during presentation to a recipient user. Filters may be of varioustypes, including user-selected filters from a gallery of filterspresented to a sending user by the messaging client application 104 whenthe sending user is composing a message. Other types of filters includegeolocation filters (also known as geo-filters), which may be presentedto a sending user based on geographic location. For example, geolocationfilters specific to a neighborhood or special location may be presentedwithin a UI by the messaging client application 104, based ongeolocation information determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS)unit of the client device 102. Another type of filter is a data filter,which may be selectively presented to a sending user by the messagingclient application 104, based on other inputs or information gathered bythe client device 102 during the message creation process. Examples ofdata filters include current temperature at a specific location, acurrent speed at which a sending user is traveling, battery life for aclient device 102, or the current time.

Other annotation data that may be stored within the image table 208 isso-called “lens” data. A “lens” may be a real-time special effect andsound that may be added to an image or a video.

As mentioned above, the video table 210 stores video data which, in oneembodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintainedwithin the message table 214. Similarly, the image table 208 storesimage data associated with messages for which message data is stored inthe entity table 202. The entity table 202 may associate variousannotations from the annotation table 212 with various images and videosstored in the image table 208 and the video table 210.

Summary model data 207 stores various information about parameters,rules, heuristics, and/or trained machine learning models that are usedby the message synchronization system 124 to select and/or identifymessages and/or conversations to include in a summary.

A story table 206 stores data regarding collections of messages andassociated image, video, or audio data, which are compiled into acollection (e.g., a story or a gallery). The creation of a particularcollection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., each user forwhich a record is maintained in the entity table 202). A user may createa “personal story” in the form of a collection of content that has beencreated and sent/broadcast by that user. To this end, the UI of themessaging client application 104 may include an icon that isuser-selectable to enable a sending user to add specific content to hisor her personal story.

A collection may also constitute a “live story,” which is a collectionof content from multiple users that is created manually, automatically,or using a combination of manual and automatic techniques. For example,a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted contentfrom various locations and events. Users whose client devices 102 havelocation services enabled and are at a common location event at aparticular time may, for example, be presented with an option, via a UIof the messaging client application 104, to contribute content to aparticular live story. The live story may be identified to the user bythe messaging client application 104 based on his or her location. Theend result is a “live story” told from a community perspective.

A further type of content collection is known as a “location story,”which enables a user whose client device 102 is located within aspecific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus)to contribute to a particular collection. In some embodiments, acontribution to a location story may require a second degree ofauthentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specificorganization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the universitycampus).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message 300,according to some embodiments, generated by a messaging clientapplication 104 for communication to a further messaging clientapplication 104 or the messaging server application 114. The content ofa particular message 300 is used to populate the message table 214stored within the database 120, accessible by the messaging serverapplication 114. Similarly, the content of a message 300 is stored inmemory as “in-transit” or “in-flight” data of the client device 102 orthe application server 112. The message 300 is shown to include thefollowing components:

-   -   A message identifier 302: a unique identifier that identifies        the message 300.    -   A message text payload 304: text, to be generated by a user via        a UI of the client device 102 and that is included in the        message 300.    -   A message image payload 306: image data, captured by a camera        component of a client device 102 or retrieved from memory of a        client device 102, and that is included in the message 300.    -   A message video payload 308: video data, captured by a camera        component or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 102 and that is included in the message 300.    -   A message audio payload 310: audio data, captured by a        microphone or retrieved from the memory component of the client        device 102, and that is included in the message 300.    -   Message annotations 312: annotation data (e.g., filters,        stickers, or other enhancements) that represents annotations to        be applied to message image payload 306, message video payload        308, or message audio payload 310 of the message 300.    -   A message duration parameter 314: parameter value indicating, in        seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message        (e.g., the message image payload 306, message video payload 308,        message audio payload 310) is to be presented or made accessible        to a user via the messaging client application 104.    -   A message geolocation parameter 316: geolocation data (e.g.,        latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the        content payload of the message. Multiple message geolocation        parameter 316 values may be included in the payload, with each        of these parameter values being associated with respect to        content items included in the content (e.g., a specific image        within the message image payload 306, or a specific video in the        message video payload 308).    -   A message story identifier 318: identifier value identifying one        or more content collections (e.g., “stories”) with which a        particular content item in the message image payload 306 of the        message 300 is associated. For example, multiple images within        the message image payload 306 may each be associated with        multiple content collections using identifier values.    -   A message tag 320: each message 300 may be tagged with multiple        tags, each of which is indicative of the subject matter of        content included in the message payload. For example, where a        particular image included in the message image payload 306        depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included        within the message tag 320 that is indicative of the relevant        animal. Tag values may be generated manually, based on user        input, or may be automatically generated using, for example,        image recognition.    -   A message sender identifier 322: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 102 on        which the message 300 was generated and from which the message        300 was sent.    -   A message receiver identifier 324: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of user(s) of the client device 102 to        which the message 300 is addressed. In the case of a        conversation between multiple users, the identifier may indicate        each user involved in the conversation.

The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message 300 maybe pointers to locations in tables within which content data values arestored. For example, an image value in the message image payload 306 maybe a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table 208.Similarly, values within the message video payload 308 may point to datastored within a video table 210, values stored within the messageannotations 312 may point to data stored in an annotation table 212,values stored within the message story identifier 318 may point to datastored in a story table 206, and values stored within the message senderidentifier 322 and the message receiver identifier 324 may point to userrecords stored within an entity table 202.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example message synchronizationsystem 124, according to example embodiments. Message synchronizationsystem 124 includes a communication session module 414, a summarygeneration module 416, and a message transmission module 418. Thecommunication session module 414 enables users to engage in acommunication session to exchange messages with each other. In somecases, the communication session includes a group of three or more usersin which case any message sent by one user is viewable by the other twousers in the group. In some cases, the communication session includesonly two users where one user sends messages to another user and viceversa.

After initiating a communication session using the communication sessionmodule 414, messages are transferred between users of the communicationsession using the communication session module 414. For example, thecommunication session module 414 receives a message from a first user inthe communication session and marks the message for transmission to asecond user in the communication session. The communication sessionmodule 414 stores the message along with various information indicatingthe recipient, the communication session identifier, a sequence number,an identifier of the sender, and a timestamp representing when themessage was received.

In some cases, in response to receiving a given message from aparticipant or sender, the communication session module 414 identifies avector associated with the participant or sender and the value of thelast sequence number that is stored in the vector. The communicationsession module 414 increments the value of the last sequence number thatis stored to generate a new sequence number for the given message,associates the new sequence number with the given message, and adds thenew sequence number to the vector stored for the sender or participant.In this way, each participant of the communication session is assigned avector with sequence numbers representing messages sent by therespective participants.

When the second user logs into the message application, thecommunication session module 414 receives an identifier of the seconduser and determines whether there are any messages that have not beendelivered yet to the second user and that are intended for the seconduser to receive. In some cases, the communication session module 414receives a last update timestamp from the second user. The communicationsession module 414 searches the receive time of all the messages thatare intended for receipt by the second user. The communication sessionmodule 414 selects those messages that have a receive time that is laterthan the last update timestamp. The communication session module 414then sends all of the selected messages to the user device of the seconduser for presentation in the communication session of the message clientapplication 104.

In some embodiments, after a given user of the communication sessionlogs off, the communication session module 414 stores a timestampindicating the last time an update was sent to the client device 102 ofthe user. In some embodiments, the communication session module 414continuously updates the timestamp for a given client device 102 eachtime an update including new messages of the communication session issent to the given client device 102. This way, the timestamp alwaysrepresents the last time the given client device 102 was connected toand received a message from the communication session module 414.

In some embodiments, after the messaging client application 104 logsoff, the summary generation module 416 processes messages that areexchanged in one or more conversations in which the messaging clientapplication 104 of the client device 102 is involved. The summarygeneration module 416 applies a model to the messages to select andidentify messages or conversations that have a high likelihood ofimportance. Such messages are added to a summary that is generated andmaintained by the summary generation module 416. In some cases, thesummary generation module 416 processes past conversations in which theuser of the messaging client application 104 was involved to generateand train a machine learning model to identify conversations and/ormessages that have a high likelihood of interest to the user.

At a later time, the messaging client application 104 may determine aneed to synchronize its content (e.g., when a polling period is reachedor when a user requests to refresh the data of the messaging clientapplication 104). At that time, the communication session module 414instructs the summary generation module 416 to send the summary to themessaging client application 104 on the client device 102. The clientdevice 102 processes the data in the summary to generate a display of asummary view that represents the most important messages and/orconversations in which the messaging client application 104 is involved.As an example, a given conversation may have had five sequentialmessages exchanged after the last time the client device 102 lastsynchronized its content. The summary generation module 416 processesthe five messages in the conversation using a model to identify the mostimportant message in the five messages. Specifically, the model mayindicate that message number 3 of the 5 messages (which has a latertimestamp than the last time the client device 102 synchronized itscontent but earlier than the most recent timestamp of message number 5)is the most important. This may be because message number 3 is the firstof the 5 messages that has video or image content. In this case, thesummary may select message number 3 to include in the summary that isprovided to the client device 102.

The message transmission module 418 concurrently with the client device102 receiving the summary data, sends to the client device 102 messagesand/or conversations that are included in the summary data first. Othermessages that are not in the summary data are sent to the client deviceby the message transmission module 418 when specifically requested bythe client device 102.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the messagesynchronization system 124 in performing process 500, according toexample embodiments. The process 500 may be embodied incomputer-readable instructions for execution by one or more processorssuch that the operations of the process 500 may be performed in part orin whole by the functional components of the messaging server system108, client device 102, and/or third-party application 105; accordingly,the process 500 is described below by way of example with referencethereto. In other embodiments, at least some of the operations of theprocess 500 may be deployed on various other hardware configurations.The process 500 is therefore not intended to be limited to the messagingserver system 108 and can be implemented in whole, or in part, by anyother component. Some or all of the operations of process 500 can be inparallel, out of order, or entirely omitted.

At operation 501, a computing system (e.g., a server that implementsmessage synchronization system 124) accesses a plurality of messages ofa communication session implemented by a messaging application on a userdevice. For example, the message synchronization system 124 accessesmessages that are part of one or more conversations in which a clientdevice 102 running a messaging client application 104 is involved.

At operation 502, the computing system generates a summary of thecommunication session based on the plurality of messages. For example,the message synchronization system 124 applies a model to the one ormore conversations and/or messages exchanged in the conversations toidentify one or more conversations and/or messages that are important toa user of the client device 102.

At operation 503, the computing system transmits data associated withthe summary to the user device. For example, the message synchronizationsystem 124 sends the summary including sequence numbers and/or uniqueidentifiers of messages that are identified as important.

At operation 504, the computing system causes the user device to displaya summary view of the communication session based on the data receivedby the user device from the server. For example, the messagesynchronization system 124 instructs the client device 102 (e.g., themessaging client application 104) to display a summary view thatincludes the messages identified in the summary.

In one example embodiment, the client device 102 presents simultaneouslya set of conversation identifiers of all or some of the conversations inwhich the given client device 102 is involved. For each conversationidentified in the simultaneous view, the given client device 102presents the message provided in the summary for that conversation. Forexample, a first conversation identifier includes the content of thelast message exchanged in that first conversation while a secondconversation identifier (in the same summary view simultaneously withthe first conversation identifier) includes the content of a messageexchanged in the second conversation that includes video or imagecontent but not text and that is not the last message exchanged in thesecond conversation. The given client device 102 may receive input fromthe user that selects a given conversation identifier from the summaryview. In response, the given client device 102 retrieves, from theserver, messages that are part of the selected conversation identifierand that have not previously been retrieved from the server.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture606, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 6 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 606 may execute on hardwaresuch as machine 700 of FIG. 7 that includes, among other things,processors 704, memory 714, and input/output (I/O) components 718. Arepresentative hardware layer 652 is illustrated and can represent, forexample, the machine 700 of FIG. 7. The representative hardware layer652 includes a processing unit 654 having associated executableinstructions 604. Executable instructions 604 represent the executableinstructions of the software architecture 606, including implementationof the methods, components, and so forth described herein. The hardwarelayer 652 also includes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage656, which also have executable instructions 604. The hardware layer 652may also comprise other hardware 658.

In the example architecture of FIG. 6, the software architecture 606 maybe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 606 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 602, libraries 620,frameworks/middleware 618, applications 616, and a presentation layer614. Operationally, the applications 616 and/or other components withinthe layers may invoke API calls 608 through the software stack andreceive messages 612 in response to the API calls 608. The layersillustrated are representative in nature and not all softwarearchitectures have all layers. For example, some mobile or specialpurpose operating systems may not provide a frameworks/middleware 618,while others may provide such a layer. Other software architectures mayinclude additional or different layers.

The operating system 602 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 602 may include, for example, akernel 622, services 624, and drivers 626. The kernel 622 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 622 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 624 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 626 areresponsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware.For instance, the drivers 626 include display drivers, camera drivers,Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 620 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 616 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries620 provide functionality that allows other software components toperform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with theunderlying operating system 602 functionality (e.g., kernel 622,services 624 and/or drivers 626). The libraries 620 may include systemlibraries 644 (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions suchas memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions,mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 620 mayinclude API libraries 646 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries tosupport presentation and manipulation of various media format such asMPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g., anOpenGL framework that may be used to render two-dimensional andthree-dimensional in a graphic content on a display), database libraries(e.g., SQLite that may provide various relational database functions),web libraries (e.g., WebKit that may provide web browsingfunctionality), and the like. The libraries 620 may also include a widevariety of other libraries 648 to provide many other APIs to theapplications 616 and other software components/modules.

The frameworks/middleware 618 (also sometimes referred to as middleware)provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by theapplications 616 and/or other software components/modules. For example,the frameworks/middleware 618 may provide various graphical userinterface functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 618 may provide abroad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications616 and/or other software components/modules, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system 602 or platform.

The applications 616 include built-in applications 638 and/orthird-party applications 640. Examples of representative built-inapplications 638 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 640 may include anapplication developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asIOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 640 may invoke the API calls 608 provided bythe mobile operating system (such as operating system 602) to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

The applications 616 may use built-in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 622, services 624, and/or drivers 626), libraries 620, andframeworks/middleware 618 to create UIs to interact with users of thesystem. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systems, interactionswith a user may occur through a presentation layer, such as presentationlayer 614. In these systems, the application/component “logic” can beseparated from the aspects of the application/component that interactwith a user.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 700,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine700 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions710 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 700 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, theinstructions 710 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 710 transform the general,non-programmed machine 700 into a particular machine 700 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 700 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 700 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 700 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 710, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 700. Further, while only a single machine 700 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 710 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 700 may include processors 704, memory/storage 706, and I/Ocomponents 718, which may be configured to communicate with each othersuch as via a bus 702. In an example embodiment, the processors 704(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction setcomputing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC)processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aradio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or anysuitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 708and a processor 712 that may execute the instructions 710. The term“processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 704 that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions 710 contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 7 shows multiple processors 704, the machine 700 may include asingle processor 708 with a single core, a single processor 708 withmultiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors 708,712 with a single core, multiple processors 708, 712 with multiplecores, or any combination thereof.

The memory/storage 706 may include a memory 714, such as a main memory,or other memory storage, and a storage unit 716, both accessible to theprocessors 704 such as via the bus 702. The storage unit 716 and memory714 store the instructions 710 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 710 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the memory 714, within thestorage unit 716, within at least one of the processors 704 (e.g.,within the processor's cache memory), or any suitable combinationthereof, during execution thereof by the machine 700. Accordingly, thememory 714, the storage unit 716, and the memory of processors 704 areexamples of machine-readable media.

The I/O components 718 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 718 that are included in a particular machine 700 will dependon the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones will likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include sucha touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 718may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 7. The I/Ocomponents 718 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 718 mayinclude output components 726 and input components 728. The outputcomponents 726 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 728 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 718 may includebiometric components 739, motion components 734, environmentalcomponents 736, or position components 738 among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 739 may includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 734 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 736 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 738 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a GPS receiver component),altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detectair pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensorcomponents (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 718 may include communication components 740 operableto couple the machine 700 to a network 737 or devices 729 via coupling724 and coupling 722, respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 740 may include a network interface component or othersuitable device to interface with the network 737. In further examples,communication components 740 may include wired communication components,wireless communication components, cellular communication components,near field communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g.,Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents to provide communication via other modalities. The devices729 may be another machine 700 or any of a wide variety of peripheraldevices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

Moreover, the communication components 740 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 740 may include radio frequency identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components740, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Glossary

“CARRIER SIGNAL,” in this context, refers to any intangible medium thatis capable of storing, encoding, or carrying transitory ornon-transitory instructions 710 for execution by the machine 700, andincludes digital or analog communications signals or other intangiblemedium to facilitate communication of such instructions 710.Instructions 710 may be transmitted or received over the network 106using a transitory or non-transitory transmission medium via a networkinterface device and using any one of a number of well-known transferprotocols.

“CLIENT DEVICE,” in this context, refers to any machine 700 thatinterfaces to a communications network 106 to obtain resources from oneor more server systems or other client devices 102. A client device 102may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop,PDAs, smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks, laptops,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communicationdevice that a user may use to access a network 106.

“COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK,” in this context, refers to one or moreportions of a network 106 that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, anextranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), awireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of theInternet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), aplain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network,or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network106 or a portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular networkand the coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection,or other type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, thecoupling may implement any of a variety of types of data transfertechnology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology(1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General PacketRadio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA),Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long TermEvolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard settingorganizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfertechnology.

“EPHEMERAL MESSAGE,” in this context, refers to a message 300 that isaccessible for a time-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be atext, an image, a video, and the like. The access time for the ephemeralmessage may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, the access timemay be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient.Regardless of the setting technique, the message 300 is transitory.

“MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM,” in this context, refers to a component,device, or other tangible media able to store instructions 710 and datatemporarily or permanently and may include, but is not limited to,random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flashmemory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types ofstorage (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and/orany suitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers)able to store instructions 710. The term “machine-readable medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media,that is capable of storing instructions 710 (e.g., code) for executionby a machine 700, such that the instructions 710, when executed by oneor more processors 704 of the machine 700, cause the machine 700 toperform any one or more of the methodologies described herein.Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storageapparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storagenetworks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term“machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se.

“COMPONENT,” in this context, refers to a device, physical entity, orlogic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branchpoints, APIs, or other technologies that provide for the partitioning ormodularization of particular processing or control functions. Componentsmay be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry outa machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardwareunit designed for use with other components and a part of a program thatusually performs a particular function of related functions. Componentsmay constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on amachine-readable medium) or hardware components. A “hardware component”is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various exampleembodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computersystem, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one ormore hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or agroup of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an applicationor application portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically,electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations. A hardwarecomponent may be a special-purpose processor, such as afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an ASIC. A hardware componentmay also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarilyconfigured by software to perform certain operations. For example, ahardware component may include software executed by a general-purposeprocessor 708 or other programmable processor. Once configured by suchsoftware, hardware components become specific machines (or specificcomponents of a machine 700) uniquely tailored to perform the configuredfunctions and are no longer general-purpose processors 708. It will beappreciated that the decision to implement a hardware componentmechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations. Accordingly, the phrase“hardware component” (or “hardware-implemented component”) should beunderstood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that isphysically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), ortemporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manneror to perform certain operations described herein. Consideringembodiments in which hardware components are temporarily configured(e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need not beconfigured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example,where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processor 708configured by software to become a special-purpose processor, thegeneral-purpose processor 708 may be configured as respectivelydifferent special-purpose processors (e.g., comprising differenthardware components) at different times. Software accordingly configuresa particular processor 708 or processors 704, for example, to constitutea particular hardware component at one instance of time and toconstitute a different hardware component at a different instance oftime.

Hardware components can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardwarecomponents may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Wheremultiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications maybe achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. Inembodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured orinstantiated at different times, communications between such hardwarecomponents may be achieved, for example, through the storage andretrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware components have access. For example, one hardware component mayperform an operation and store the output of that operation in a memorydevice to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardwarecomponent may then, at a later time, access the memory device toretrieve and process the stored output.

Hardware components may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors 704 thatare temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configuredto perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors 704 may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors704. Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor 708 or processors 704being an example of hardware. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors 704 orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processors704 may also operate to support performance of the relevant operationsin a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service”(SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed bya group of computers (as examples of machines 700 including processors704), with these operations being accessible via a network 106 (e.g.,the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API).The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine 700, butdeployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, theprocessors 704 or processor-implemented components may be located in asingle geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an officeenvironment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, theprocessors 704 or processor-implemented components may be distributedacross a number of geographic locations.

“PROCESSOR,” in this context, refers to any circuit or virtual circuit(a physical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor708) that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g.,“commands,” “op codes,” “machine code,” etc.) and which producescorresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine 700.A processor 708 may, for example, be a CPU, a RISC processor, a CISCprocessor, a GPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a RFIC or any combination thereof. Aprocessor 708 may further be a multi-core processor having two or moreindependent processors 704 (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that mayexecute instructions 710 contemporaneously.

“TIMESTAMP,” in this context, refers to a sequence of characters orencoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, forexample giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a smallfraction of a second.

Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These andother changes or modifications are intended to be included within thescope of the present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: generating, by a server, asummary of a communication session; determining that a first message inthe communication session includes a first video with audio content;determining that a second message in the communication session includesa second video without audio content; in response to determining thatthe first message includes the first video with audio content and thatthe second message includes a second video without audio content,selecting the first message for the summary instead of the secondmessage; transmitting, by the server, data associated with the summaryto a computing device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a summary viewpresented on the computing device represents messages exchanged in aplurality of conversations of the communication session, and furthercomprising: applying, by the server, a model to the plurality ofmessages to generate the summary; and causing the computing device todisplay of a summary view of the communication session based on the datareceived by the computing device from the server.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the model includes rules for selecting a subset of theplurality of messages to include in the summary.
 4. The method of claim3, wherein a first collection of a plurality of messages of thecommunication session is associated with a first conversation in thecommunication session, wherein the first collection includes the firstand second messages, and wherein the first message is further selectedfor the summary by applying a rule of the model.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein a second collection of the plurality of messages isassociated with a second conversation in the communication session. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the first message and a third message arepresented simultaneously in a summary view on the computing devicewithout providing the second message to the computing device.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the server receives a request from thecomputing device to download the second message after a summary view isdisplayed on the computing device and in response to the computingdevice receiving a user request to view a conversation that includes thesecond message.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining that an engagement level of a user of the computing devicein a given conversation is less than a threshold; and in response todetermining that the engagement level of the user of the computingdevice in the given conversation is less than the threshold, applying arule of a model to select a third message that was last exchanged in thegiven conversation for the summary.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: accessing, by the server, a plurality of messages of thecommunication session implemented by a messaging application on acomputing device, the first message of the communication session wasreceived prior to a second message of the plurality of messages; andproviding, to the computing device, the plurality of messagescorresponding to a summary view of the communication session displayedon the computing device, wherein a second message that is not in thesummary view is not provided to the computing device.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: accessing a trained machine learning model,the machine learning model having been trained based on communicationpatterns of a user of the computing device to predict a likelihood ofengagement with a conversation in the communication session; andapplying the trained machine learning model to a plurality of messagesto select one or more messages for inclusion in the summary based on thepredicted likelihood of engagement of the user with one or moreconversations in which the one or more messages were exchanged.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising: obtaining past user engagementpatterns with a set of past conversations; determining that the pastuser engagement patterns indicate that a first type of user interactionwith a first of the set of past conversations is indicative of a lowlikelihood of engagement; determining that the past user engagementpatterns indicate that a second type of user interaction with a secondof the set of past conversations is indicative of a high likelihood ofengagement; and training the machine learning model based on the firstand second types of user interactions.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the first type of user interaction comprises at least one ofmuting or preventing notifications about new messages exchanged in thefirst of the set of past conversations or accessing the first of the setof past conversations less than a specified number of times over aspecified period.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the specifiednumber of times is once, and wherein the specified period is one week.14. The method of claim 11, wherein the second type of user interactioncomprises receiving more than a threshold number of messages from theuser in the second of the set of past conversations within a specifiedtime interval.
 15. A system comprising: a server comprising a processorconfigured to perform operations comprising: generating, by a server, asummary of a communication session; determining that a first message inthe communication session includes a first video with audio content;determining that a second message in the communication session includesa second video without audio content; in response to determining thatthe first message includes the first video with audio content and thatthe second message includes a second video without audio content,selecting the first message for the summary instead of the secondmessage; transmitting, by the server, data associated with the summaryto a computing device.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein a summaryview displayed on the computing device represents messages exchanged ina plurality of conversations of the communication session, and theoperations further comprise: applying, by the server, a model to theplurality of messages to generate the summary; and causing the computingdevice to display of a summary view of the communication session basedon the data received by the computing device from the server.
 17. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein the model includes rules for selectingsubsets of the plurality of messages to include in the summary.
 18. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein a first collection of a plurality ofmessages of the communication session is associated with a firstconversation in the communication session, wherein the first collectionincludes the first and second messages, and wherein the first message isfurther selected for the summary by applying a rule of the model. 19.The system of claim 18, wherein a second collection of the plurality ofmessages is associated with a second conversation in the communicationsession.
 20. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium thatincludes instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of amachine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: generating,a summary of a communication session; determining that a first messagein the communication session includes a first video with audio content;determining that a second message in the communication session includesa second video without audio content; in response to determining thatthe first message includes the first video with audio content and thatthe second message includes a second video without audio content,selecting the first message for the summary instead of the secondmessage; transmitting, data associated with the summary to a computingdevice.